Together with his business partner and Beverley IT specialist Matt Lax, Mr Adamson says he will offer homes and businesses site surveys to assess their risk of being a target to criminals. They will offer advice and support, and can sell equipment such as CCTV and burglar alarms.

Mr Adamson, 59, said the idea for the company was prompted by cutbacks in the police force.

"I called Humberside Police recently, and found that they no longer employed a crime prevention officer," he said.

Mr Adamson worked in Humberside Police for 30 years. (Image: Katie Pugh)

"This surprised me, and that set me off thinking that there could be some room here to use my expertise and turn crime prevention into a business.

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"It's certainly something that there's scope for at the moment, because of the reductions in police numbers, they've got higher workloads and there's low morale.

"What we can do for people who engage with us is conduct a full site survey for the premises that they're concerned about, and for that we can use a drone to take an overhead view of the premises. From there we can make some recommendations and offer them some protective devices. But it's up to them what they want to do.

Mr Adamson, who worked across Beverley and Bransholme in the force before spending 20 years at the force's Special Branch Unit, says his business has the support of the police and that he will be spreading the word in crime-hit areas.

"We're only just getting started so if there's an area that's been hit quite hard we'll be going down there and canvassing with leaflets," he said.